Therapeutic?

[st_ratagem]

Following Thor without being hugely obvious was already getting tricky, even after only a day. It wasn’t surprising, really; Thor was more observant and aware of Loki’s tricks than he’d once been, and the Inn was still a confined space. That really only meant that instead of being sneaky, Loki was trying artful.

For whatever reason, Stark was confined to Thor’s room. Some kind of breakdown, who cared? It was an opening. If Stark was confined, they couldn’t have lunch in the cafe as they occasionally did, so bringing lunch was an excuse to lurk around Thor’s area. It was also a way to be a little bit of a jerk in the guise of being a medical type. Stark was an iffy eater at the best of times. And yes, Loki himself wasn’t interested in food, much, but he maintained weight and muscle mass without difficulty, which was more than Stark could say.

But the fact that he had multiple good reasons was why he turned up at Thor’s door and knocked by kicking it because his hands were carrying lunch.

Comments

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Without hesitation, Tony moved to the deceptively frail creature and immersed himself in the illusion of a loving pet as he picked it up and gave him a cradle in his arms.

[st_ratagem]

As before, Loki let the kitten body drive for the most part. It was easier than actually having to know how to deal with the heightened and different senses, being on four legs instead of two, and so on. But it also meant that being picked up and held resulted in purring unless he made some effort otherwise.

He didn’t. He went on purring.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Just feeling a warm, fuzzy little body vibrating at that pitch satisfied many, many needs within Tony at once. He warmed a few of his fingers against Loki’s warm stomach, sneaking a finger up to scratch his chin. “I almost forgive you for the vomit explosion.”

[st_ratagem]

Loki yawned, stretched, batted at fingers in passing: a tiny innocent creature. I have no knowledge of the incident to which you refer.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony approached the bed he shared and sunk down on it, keeping Loki steady on his chest. “You prefer Loki or Cacafuego?”

[st_ratagem]

The main problem with being a kitten, beyond 'no thumbs' and 'magically limited', was the inability to speak. Instead, Loki flicked an ear but otherwise didn't respond to the question. The name used didn't matter too terribly much - it was still him either way. They both knew it but had, for the moment, decided not to care.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony cracked his first smile of the day, small and brief and lopsided as it was, running a thumb all over his little face. Having your questionably villainous brother-in-law play pet was bizarre but it was the least offensively bizarre thing he’d had to deal with. He had a vision of Loki taking a ride on a roomba as it meandered from place to place.

“This’ll make Liz happy. Heard she got a visitor or two.”

[st_ratagem]

Loki hadn't actually considered being a kitten around anyone other than Stark, but it might almost render things closer to medical. Therapy kitten! And this time, when he wanted to be a person he didn't have to sneak. Unless he felt like it, which he often did.

Almost absently, he wondered if Valkyrie liked kittens, but got distracted within the first second or two by batting/shoving at Stark's thumb in his face with tiny, ineffectual paws. That was going to be a pleasant daydream! Stop!

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Oh, what? Were you deep in thought?” Tony hovered his fingers above Loki’s head, circling them about.

[st_ratagem]

Kittens could be aggressive, but never very effective, and that would never be better-demonstrated as when Loki twisted onto his back to flail clawed paws at the waving fingers. The attack could have been meant in deadly earnest (which It halfway was) but the likelihood of it actually doing any real damage was near zero.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Pinpricks of claws caught his finger, and Tony wiggled it to jostle the little kitty body. “Thinking kitten thoughts?”

[st_ratagem]

Since the claws had more or less attached to the man’s finger, Loki twisted again to rabbit kick with his back legs. A slightly more effective attack, but it meant he was no longer balanced especially well in his arm-cradle.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Okay. Okay.” Chuckling, Tony lowered him back into the nest of his arms. “I was ready for a nap, anyway.”

[st_ratagem]

Magnanimous in victory - because of course it was a victory when the other side gave in - Loki settled down and started to purr again. Most likely he wouldn’t nap, but... well, he’d been wrong about the likelihood of sleep before.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"Round the clock visitation rights...not that you were waiting for permission." Tony's voice grew heavy with sleep

[st_ratagem]

He hadn’t been, no, but it was good to have just in case. Thor’s room would always be a good place to wait in the event he needed to find his brother and it wasn’t a time-sensitive matter, so Loki made no move to go.

Also, he was comfortable.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

"I can float your roommate a note." He mumbled, recalling Loki had one. Of sorts. "She's been over for the political talks enough."

[st_ratagem]

...what political talks? Loki’s ears flattened briefly and his tail lashed, annoyance at being excluded, before he remembered that his future with Asgard was ‘corpse’ or ‘somewhat voluntary expatriate’, no third option. Stark honestly did have more right, for all he was Midgardian.

One more thing to get used to. A good reminder that he was on his own. Right.

He forced himself still and ears forward again, almost quickly enough to be passable as another do what you want ear-flick.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

“Think you wanna un...kittenify long enough? You were next on the agenda. It’s all been his lieutenant grilling him like a pop quiz.” Tony never had much input and had enough self preservation instinct not to jump in with a wry remark too much.

[st_ratagem]

This time the ear-flick was genuine. Loki had no intention of spending all, or probably even most, of his time as a kitten. He liked talking too much and had no particular reason to hide. The change was for relaxation purposes only. The answer, though, was ‘maybe’ because the hell of it was that his exclusion did make sense, upsetting though it was. Inclusion did not make sense, and was therefore suspicious.

Everything was just exhausting. The kitten body expressed that by yawning.

[st_arkravinghazelnut]

Tony yawned in an empathetic response, hand stilling. Sleep hit him like a truck with the warm weight atop him.